PHL103 Midterm 1

Hart, Being-What does Hart mean by being?

To be means to exist or have being. Philosophy examines what existence means, what kinds of things exist, and how we can distinguish between something existing and having particular characteristics.

Hart, Being -What is the difference between being and the properties of a thing?

Being concerns whether something exists, whereas properties are the characteristics that describe it. For example, a tree may be tall, green, and old. These properties tell us what the tree is like, rather than simply whether it exists.

Hart, Being - What is the central philosophical question about being?

A central question is what it means for something to exist. This leads to further questions about whether different kinds of things exist in the same way and how we can understand existence itself.

Hart, Being - Why is being a philosophical problem?

Being is a philosophical problem because existence seems obvious in everyday life, but defining what existence means is more difficult. Philosophy investigates assumptions that people usually take for granted.

Taylor’s Sphere, Hart- What does Hart mean when he asks why anything exists?

Hart is asking why reality exists in the first place rather than not existing at all. Explaining how things work or how one event causes another does not necessarily explain why there is a reality in which those things and events exist.

Taylor’s Sphere, Hart- What is the difference between essence and existence?

• Essence: What something is — its nature or defining characteristics.

• Existence: That something is — the fact that it actually exists.

Taylor’s Sphere, Hart- Why can't physical things fully explain their own existence?

Hart argues that physical things are dependent, changing, and composed of parts. They rely on other conditions for their existence. Explaining one physical thing through another may explain how it came about, but it does not necessarily explain why reality exists at all.

Taylor’s Sphere, Hart - What does Hart mean when he says that things receive rather than generate their own being?

He means that finite things do not possess a completely independent source of existence within themselves. They depend on other conditions and relationships. Their existence is contingent rather than entirely self-sufficient.

Russel, The Value of Philosophy-Why does Russell believe philosophy is valuable?

Russell argues that philosophy is valuable because it encourages us to question assumptions, explore possibilities, and expand our understanding of the world. Its value does not depend only on providing definite answers; philosophical inquiry itself can enrich our intellectual lives.

Russel, The Value of Philosophy- Why does Russell emphasize uncertainty?

Philosophy exposes us to questions that cannot always be answered conclusively. This uncertainty helps us recognize the limits of our knowledge and avoid dogmatically assuming that our beliefs are unquestionably true.

Russel, The Value of Philosophy- Is philosophy simply a less-developed form of science?

No. Science investigates questions that can often be answered through observation and experimentation. Philosophy also investigates fundamental questions about knowledge, reality, morality, and value, including questions that may not have definitive scientific answers.

Russel, The Value of Philosophy-How does philosophy broaden the mind?

Philosophy encourages us to consider perspectives and possibilities beyond our immediate experiences and personal interests. It challenges assumptions and helps us think more critically and open-mindedly.

Plato, Apology-Why is Socrates on trial?

Socrates is accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and failing to recognize the gods recognized by the city, as well as introducing new divine beings. He defends his philosophical activities before an Athenian jury.

Plato, Apology-What role does the Oracle of Delphi play?

The Oracle declares that no one is wiser than Socrates. Socrates initially finds this puzzling because he does not consider himself wise. He investigates people regarded as wise to understand the Oracle's statement.

Plato, Apology - What is Socratic ignorance?

Socratic ignorance is the recognition that one does not know something. Socrates' distinctive wisdom is that he does not falsely believe he possesses knowledge that he lacks.

Plato, Apology-Why does Socrates investigate supposedly wise people?

He wants to determine what the Oracle means. By questioning politicians, poets, and craftspeople, he discovers that many believe they possess knowledge they cannot adequately explain or defend.

Plato, Apology-What is the Socratic method/ Elenchus?

The Socratic method is a form of questioning that examines people's beliefs, definitions, and assumptions. By asking follow-up questions, Socrates exposes contradictions and reveals when an explanation is inadequate.

Plato, Apology-What is the relationship between wisdom and virtue?

Socrates encourages people to prioritize the state of their souls and their moral character over wealth, reputation, and power. The Apology connects wisdom with recognizing one's limitations and examining how one ought to live. Be careful not to reduce Socrates' entire argument to the claim that knowledge automatically guarantees virtue.

Plato, Apology-Maxims at the entrance:

• Know thyself

• Nothing in excess

• Surety is ruin

Plato, Apology- What is aporia?

“puzzlement”—leading to recognition of ignorance

Plato, Euthyphro-Why are Socrates and Euthyphro at the court?

Socrates is facing prosecution, while Euthyphro is prosecuting his own father over the death of a servant. Euthyphro believes that prosecuting his father is the pious thing to do, despite the controversy surrounding the decision.

Plato, Euthyphro-What is Euthyphro's first definition of piety?

Euthyphro initially defines piety by giving an example: prosecuting someone who has committed wrongdoing, even if that person is a family member. Socrates objects because an example does not explain what piety itself is.

Plato, Euthyphro-Why is an example not the same as a definition?

An example identifies one action that may be pious, but it does not explain the common characteristic that makes all pious actions pious. Socrates wants a general definition that can explain why different actions belong to the same category.

Plato, Euthyphro-What is Euthyphro's second definition?

Euthyphro suggests that piety is what is dear to the gods. Socrates questions this because the gods in Greek mythology disagree with one another, meaning an action could be loved by some gods and hated by others.

Plato, Euthyphro- What is Euthyphro's third definition?

Euthyphro revises the definition to say that piety is what all the gods love. Socrates then asks whether the gods love pious actions because they are pious or whether the actions are pious because the gods love them.

Plato, Euthyphro-What is the Euthyphro dilemma?

The dilemma asks whether something is pious because the gods love it or whether the gods love it because it is pious. The question challenges whether divine approval creates moral or religious goodness or recognizes a goodness that already exists.

Plato, Euthypro-What does Socrates want from Euthyphro?

He wants a general, coherent definition of piety that explains what all pious actions have in common. He is not satisfied with examples, appeals to authority, or definitions that generate contradictions.

Plato, Meno-What is the central question of the Meno?

Meno initially asks whether virtue can be taught, acquired through practice, or obtained by nature. Socrates responds by questioning what virtue actually is, because they cannot determine how virtue is acquired without first understanding what it is.

Plato, Meno-What is virtue?

Virtue refers to excellence or goodness. In the dialogue, Meno struggles to define it because different people may have different virtues depending on their roles and circumstances. Socrates wants a general definition that explains what all instances of virtue have in common.

Plato, Meno-Why does Socrates reject Meno’s first definition of virtue?

Meno initially lists different virtues for different people, such as managing public affairs for men and managing the household for women. Socrates rejects this approach because examples of different virtues do not explain the common characteristic that makes them all virtues.

Plato, Meno-What does Socrates want Meno to provide?

Socrates wants a unified definition of virtue itself, rather than a list of examples. He seeks an account that explains what makes all virtuous actions virtuous.

Plato, Meno-What is Meno’s paradox?

Meno's paradox challenges the possibility of inquiry. If you know what you are searching for, inquiry seems unnecessary. If you do not know what you are searching for, you may not recognize the answer when you find it. This raises the question of how learning is possible at all.

Plato,Meno-How does Socrates respond to Meno’s paradox?

Socrates introduces the theory of recollection, according to which learning is the process of recollecting knowledge that the soul already possesses. He uses this theory to argue that inquiry is possible even when we do not initially know the answer.

Plato,Meno-What is the theory of recollection?

The theory of recollection holds that what appears to be learning can be understood as recovering knowledge already possessed by the soul. Socrates connects this theory with the soul's immortality and uses it to explain how inquiry can be possible.

Plato,Meno-What is the role of the slave boy in the Meno?

Socrates questions a slave boy about a geometry problem involving doubling the area of a square. Through carefully structured questions, the boy recognizes mistakes in his initial answers and eventually reaches a correct solution. Socrates uses the episode to illustrate how questioning can lead someone from ignorance toward understanding.

Plato,Meno-Can virtue be taught?

The dialogue does not provide a definitive answer. Socrates and Meno struggle to identify teachers of virtue, and Socrates questions whether virtue can be taught if its nature remains unclear. The dialogue ends with the suggestion that virtue may be acquired through a kind of divine dispensation rather than ordinary teaching, but the issue remains unresolved.

Plato,Meno-What is the relationship between virtue and knowledge?

The dialogue explores whether virtue is a kind of knowledge and whether knowledge could therefore make virtue teachable. However, because the nature of virtue remains unsettled, Socrates cannot conclusively establish that virtue is knowledge.

Plato, Meno-What was Meno’s first definition of virtue?

Meno describes a virtue for every role and occasion

Plato, Meno- What was Meno’s 2nd definition of virtue?

What else but to be able to rule over people, if you are seeking one

description to fit them all.

Plato,Meno- What was Meno’s 3rd definition of virtue?

I say that virtue is to desire beautiful things and have the power to

acquire them

Plato, Meno- What is anamnesis?

Recollection of innate knowledge acquired before birth

Descartes, 1st Meditation—What is methodological doubt?

Methodological doubt is Descartes' deliberate strategy of doubting any belief that is not completely certain. He uses doubt as a tool to discover a secure foundation for knowledge, rather than doubting everything simply for its own sake.

Descartes, 1st Meditation- Why does Descartes doubt his senses?

Our senses sometimes deceive us, such as when distant objects appear smaller than they are. Descartes argues that if our senses have deceived us before, we should be cautious about treating sensory experience as an absolutely certain foundation for knowledge.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation-What is the dream argument?

Descartes observes that while dreaming, we can experience situations that seem completely real. Since he cannot always identify a definitive sign that distinguishes dreaming from waking, he considers the possibility that his current experiences are dreams.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation- What does the dream argument challenge?

It challenges the certainty of beliefs about the external world that depend on sensory experience. If he could be dreaming, he cannot be absolutely certain that his present surroundings and experiences are real in the way they appear.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation-What is the evil demon hypothesis?

Descartes imagines a powerful, deceptive being that deliberately misleads him about everything, including mathematics and other apparently obvious truths. This thought experiment pushes doubt to an extreme so that he can identify what remains certain.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation-Why does Descartes doubt mathematics?

The dream argument alone does not necessarily undermine simple mathematical truths. Descartes therefore introduces the possibility of a powerful deceiver who could mislead him even when he performs apparently straightforward calculations. This allows him to question even beliefs that seem independent of the senses.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation-Why does Descartes deliberately doubt obvious beliefs?

He wants to distinguish genuinely certain knowledge from beliefs that merely seem certain because they are familiar or deeply ingrained. By temporarily withholding assent from doubtful beliefs, he hopes to discover a foundation that cannot be overturned.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation-What is Descartes' ultimate goal in Meditation I?

His goal is to establish a secure foundation for knowledge by identifying and setting aside every belief that can reasonably be doubted. Meditation I establishes the problem of uncertainty; Meditation II begins to identify what can survive it.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation- What are Euclid’s Axioms?

Common Notions

1. Things equal to the same thing are also equal to one another.

2. And if equal things are added to equal things then the wholes are equal.

3. And if equal things are subtracted from equal things then the remainders are equal.

4. And the whole [is] greater than the part.

Postulates

1. Let it be postulated to draw a straight-line from any point to any point.

2. And to produce a finite straight-line continuously in a straight-line.

3. And to draw a circle with any center and radius.

4. And that all right-angles are equal to one another.

DesCartes, 1st Meditation- What is methodological skepticism?

Systematic doubting for a purpose of discovering what can (and cannot) be

doubted

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-What is the Cogito?

The Cogito is Descartes' realization that he cannot doubt his own existence while he is thinking. Even if a deceiver misleads him about everything else, the fact that he is being deceived means that he exists as a thinking subject.

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-Why can't Descartes doubt his existence as a thinking thing?

Doubting is itself a form of thinking. If Descartes doubts whether he exists, there must be something performing that act of doubt. Therefore, the act of thinking establishes his existence at least while he is thinking.

DesCartes, 2nd meditation-What does "I think, therefore I am" mean?

It means that the existence of the thinking subject is certain whenever thinking occurs. Descartes cannot coherently deny his existence while performing the act of denial.

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-What is a thinking thing?

A thinking thing is something that performs mental activities. Descartes includes doubting, understanding, affirming, denying, willing, refusing, imagining, and sensing insofar as these are conscious mental experiences.

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-What is the wax argument?

Descartes considers a piece of wax whose sensory properties change when it is heated. It loses its smell, changes shape, and becomes liquid, yet we recognize it as the same wax. He uses this example to question whether the senses alone explain how we understand an object's identity.

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-What role does the intellect play in knowledge?

he intellect enables us to understand and judge what an object is beyond its immediate sensory appearance. In the wax argument, the mind recognizes the wax as an extended, flexible, changeable body despite the transformation of its sensory qualities.

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-What is the difference between mind and body in Meditation II?

Descartes establishes that he knows himself as a thinking thing more certainly than he knows the physical world. He does not yet fully establish every aspect of the mind-body distinction in Meditation II, but he identifies thinking as the characteristic of himself that he can know with certainty.

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-What can Descartes know with certainty in Meditation II?

He can know that he exists as a thinking thing whenever he is thinking. The existence of the external world and his body remains subject to the doubts raised in Meditation I at this stage.

DesCartes, 2nd Meditation-How does Meditation II respond to Meditation I?

Meditation I establishes radical doubt about sensory experience, the external world, and even mathematics under the deceiver hypothesis. Meditation II discovers that the act of thinking cannot be separated from the existence of the thinker. Descartes therefore finds his first certain foundation for knowledge.